Wire coiling machine



Aug. 19, 1952 w. MORGAN ET AL WIRE COILING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed 001;. 21, 1946 INVENTORS WELD MORGAN C mxs 0. WESSON flaw/$7. 5

5., 1 A TTORNEY Aug. 19, 1952 w. MORGAN ET AL WIRE COILING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 061',- 21, 1946 Patented Aug. 19, 1952 Mass, assignorsto: Morgan Construction; Come pany, -Worcester,.Mass.,a corporation of-Massachusetts.

Application-October 21, 1946} swarm; 704,572"

This invention relateszito wire: take-up frames, and more particularly to machines-,- for pullingv strands; of Wire: through various apparatus and: coilingthesestrands into: annular bundles.

Wire. take-up frames are commonly employed inac'onnection with furnaces for heat treating. wire, andwith' apparatus forgalvanizing wire; for patenting wire, and for carrying onvarious other processes in the manufacture-ofwire; Theusual take-up frame includes an elongated structurewhich supports a: series of transverse horizontal shafts, each shaft having two-coiling drums or blocks mounted: on: itsopposite ends. 'A main shaft extendslongitudinally of the machine and carriesiaseries orworms' which'mesh with worm gears on the; transverse shafts. The main shaft is driven-by an electric motor which, is; connected; thereto by a-speed-reducing gear unit.

These prior take-up frames have several important disadvantages: The blocks on one sideof themachine form clockwise bundles of wire, whereas the'blocks. on the other side of the ma chine'form counterclockwise bundles.- As a result difficulties -are encountered in-the'subsequent handling of the wire. The worm gearing isi relatively inefficient in the? transmission ofpower, particularly it a high ratio of speed reduction-is employed. Consequently thetendency is toprovidealower ratio inorder to. increase the' efiiciencybut this increases thetorque on the'main shaft and necessitates a considerable increase in. its diameter and weight. -Furthermore;.it is because of the relatively lowspeed" of the-main shaft that thespeed-reducingunit required between the main shaft and the driving motor.

It is accordingly one: objectof the invention to provide: a: wire take-up frameota comparatively simple anddependable construction arranged-to form a plurality: of Wirehundles simultaneously on both sides ofthe machine, with all-the-bundles coiledin-thesame manner. h g

It is a further. object of the invention to -pro vide. a wire. take-upframe. in,-which no wor-m gearing is-required.

It is a further object ofthe invention taprovide-a-wire take-up frame having alongitudinal main/drive shattarranged-to rotate at relatively. high speeds, this shaft being comparatively small in diameter and adaptedfor. direct connection to an electric motor.

It. is a further object'offthe invention to. pro.- vide .a Wire take-up frame. having, improved means for lubricatingthe. variousdriving gears and forv protecting, these gears ftomdust'fandl dirt.

s olaims. (Crete-25 i 4 It is a further object of the invention to provide: awirewtake-up-frame having an improved arrangementof: clutches associated'with the respective: blocks, and particularly to provide a construction'suclithat each block will be stopped automatically in the event of accident.

,With; these and other objects in View, as will be apparent tothose skilled in the art, the inventionre'sides' ingthe combination of partsset forth. the: specification and coveredby theclaimsaappende'cl hereto;

Referring to the drawings illustrating one embodimentof: the invention and in which like ref'erencenurnerals indicate like parts,

Fig-1 l: is a top plan View of a wire take-up framawith certain parts broken away for clearnessi'of illustration; Fig; 2.is aside elevation-of the machine;

Fig. 3-is asection on an enlarged scale, taken onr-the' line -3- -3 of- Fig; 2;

Fig: 4- isa section taken on the line" 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig; 5 isa section taken-0n theline- 5 5of Fig.3; g

The embo'dimenta illustrated comprises a horizontally elongated.- hollow rectangular structure in thefo'rmof a dust-tight casing Hi which includes two:-oppo'sed upright-side platesl l, ahorizonta-l stope'platetZsup-ported on the upper edges of... the side plates; a bottom plate It extendingv between the lower portionsof the side plates, and two upright endplates (not-shown). The bottom plateau-iispreferably shaped to provide a longitudinally extending troughl-5,-as shown in Fig. 5; for the retention of lubr-icating oil at approximately the-level indicated.

On each sideof-the casing: lilthere is provided aseries 'ofoutwardly -facing single fianged drums or blocks-l?! rotatable about horizontal axes, each block-2 being axially aligned with thecorrespondinge block: on the opposite side of the'casing: The? axes of-all the blocks are'locat'ed-in a common-horizontal plane. Each block isprovided with-fouroutwardly extending rods [-8 which are connected at-. thein outer endstoahollowsquare frame 18; these rods serving to support the bundles; ofwire which are Y formed on the blocks;- Two multi-groove idler sheaves 21' are providedat thqfront-endg-of the casing andadjacent the opposite sides thereofto guide the wire strands approaching the -machine and separate singlegroove-idler; sheaves 22 are mounted on. the cas ing guide; the-individual strands; to the grespective blocks t1 inknown manner.

Referring: now particularly to Fig. 3; it will {be ried by a bracket 38 which is supported by the The inner portion of each shaft bottom plate M. 24 is surrounded by a quill 32 which is rotatably mounted on two axially spaced antifriction bearof the pinions 56 and gears 53. The bevel pinions 48 will drive the bevel gears and the quills 32 at a further considerable reduction in speed. With the teeth 38 engaging the notches 31, the quills 32 will drive the clutch members 39, the shafts 24, and the blocks H. The strands of wire to be coiled will travel over the sheaves 2| to the sheaves 22 and thence to the respective blocks, as indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 2. Because of the bevel gearing, the blocks at one side of the machine will all rotate in one direction, and the blocks at the other side of the machine will all rotate in the opposite direction.

in s 33 carried by the shaft. The inner end of each quill is provided with a flange 34 to which an inwardly facing bevel gear 35 is secured.

The outer end of each quill is formed ,With

notches 3'! to receive teeth 38 on the inner end of a clutch member 39 which is slidably keyed to the shaft. This clutch member is provided with a circumferential groove 4| which is engaged by a shifter fork 42 secured to a vertical shaftf43. Each shaft 43 is supported at its lower end in a bearing bracket 45 mounted on the adjacent side plate II and extends upwardly through the top plate I 2. To the upper end of each shaft 43 there is attached an elongated horizontal bar 46 which extends outwardly above the corresponding block I! and substantially in a common vertical plane with theaxis of the block. The inner ends of the bars 46 are bent laterally, as best shown in Fig. 1, for connection with the shafts 4-3. Furthermore, the shafts 43 for each pair of aligned blocks are located on opposite sides of the common axis of the blocks, the construction being such that each clutch will be disengaged by movement of its bar 46 in the direction of travel of the upper surface of the block therebeneath. This provides an important safety feature, as will be explained in connection with the discussion of the operation of the machine.

Returning now to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the two bevel gears 35 are engaged by a bevel pinion 48 of relatively small diameter which is carried on the overhung end of a shaft 49. This shaft extends at right angles with the shafts 24 and lies in a common horizontal plane therewith. It is supported. in two axially spaced antifriction bearings 5| and 52 which are mounted in the bracket 30. To each of the pinion shafts 49 there is keyed a gear 53 which is preferably of the helical type with a diameter approximately equal to that of the bevel gears 35, so that all of these gears will dip into the oil in the trough [5. The gear 53 is located between the bearings 5i and 52-.

Means is provided to drive all of the gears 53 simultaneously at the same speed and in the same direction. For this purpose there is provided a main horizontal shaft 55 (Fig. l) which extends longitudinally at a level above that of the transverse block shafts 24. On this main shaft 55 there are mounted helical pinions 56 which mesh with the respective gears 53 to drive the same. The main shaft and the pinions 56 are rotatably supported in bearings 51 carried by the brackets 30, there being a bearing at each side of each pinion 56. A coupling 59 connects this main shaft directly to the shaft 60 of an electric motor 6|. The operation of the invention will now be apparent from the above disclosure. The main shaft 55 will be rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1 by means of the motor 6|, thereby rotating the bevel pinion shafts 49 at a considerably reduced speed through the medium However, the two sets of blocks face outwardly in opposite directions from the casing I0, and they will all rotate in a counter-clockwise direction when viewed from their outer ends. Consequently the wire at both sides of the machine will be wound in a counter-clockwise direction and all the wire bundles will be alike. The bundles will be supported on the block pins l8. As each bundle reaches a suflicient size theoperator will cut the wire, leaving several convolutions on the block, and immediately bend the new front end around one of the pins l8, whereupon he will pull the bundle outwardly from the pins and drop it on the floor, all without stopping the block.

An expert operator can strip bundles in this manner from blocks 16 inches in diameter at speeds exceeding 40 revolutions per minute. If by any chance the operator should become caught by the block or bundle, he would immediately be carried into contact with the associated bar 46 and move the same in a generally lateral or broadside direction, as indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 1. Such movement of the handle 46 will turn the vertical shaft 43 and swing the clutch fork 42 to slide the clutch member 39 outwardly and withdraw the clutch teeth 38 from the notches 31. This will instantly stop the rotation of the block I! and its shaft 24, while the quill 32 continues to revolve on its bearings 33.

Since there is a double speed reduction between i the main shaft 55 and the blocks H, the main shaft can rotate at a fairly high speed and in most cases it can be directly connected to the motor shaft 60, as illustrated, without the necessity for a separate speed-reducing unit. Thus if a reduction ratio of say 8 to 1 is provided in each helical gear set 53--56 and in each bevel gear set 35-48, there will be an over-all reduction ratio of 64 to 1. With this ratio, a block speed of say 20 R. P. M. would require a main shaft speed of 1280 R. P. M. At such a speed a main shaftof relatively small diameter will transmit considerable power without excessive torque. The gearing is of an efficient type, and it will be continuously lubricated by oil which is carried upwardly to the meshing point by the gears 35 and 53, the lower portions of these gears being immersed in the oil in the trough I5. The driving gears, clutches, and bearings are entirely enclosed within the casing l0 and are completely protected against dust, water, and other foreign matter.

Having thus described our invention, whatwe claim "as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A wire take-up frame comprising a horizontally elongated structure, two series of rotatable single-flanged wire-coiling blocks on opposite sides of the. structure and facing outwardly therefrom, the axis of each :block being aligned with the axis of the corresponding opposite block and each block being constructed for outward strip-' ping of wire bundles therefrom while the block is rotating, a horizontal drive shaft for each block, an inwardly facing bevel gear adjacent the inner end of each drive shaft, means connecting the bevel gears to the corresponding shafts, a bevel pinion meshing with each pair of adjacent bevel gears, a supporting shaft for each pinion, a horizontal main shaft extending longitudinally within the said structure, and speed-reducin gearing connecting the main shaft to the pinion shafts.

2. A wire take-up frame comprising a horizontally elongated structure, two series of rotatable single-flanged wire-coiling blocks on opposite sides of the structure and facing outwardly therefrom, the axis of each block being aligned with the axis of the corresponding opposite block and each block being constructed for outward stripping of wire bundles therefrom whil the block is rotating, a horizontal drive shaft for each block, an inwardly facing bevel gear adjacent the inner end of each drive shaft, means connecting the bevel gears to the corresponding shafts, a bevel pinion meshing with each pair of adjacent bevel gears, a horizontal supporting shaft for each pinion, a gear on each pinion shaft, a horizontal main shaft extending longitudinally within the said structure, and a series of pinions on the main shaft and each meshing with one of the pinion shaft gears.

3. A wire take-up frame comprising a horizontally elongated hollow casing including two upright side plates, two series of horizontal rotatable shafts extending through the respective side plates, an outwardly facing single-flanged wirecoiling Iblock mounted on the outer end of each shaft, each block being-constructed for outward stripping of wire bundles therefrom while the 6 block is rotating, an inner bearing for the inner end .of each shaft, an outer bearing for each shaft mounted on the adjacent side plate, a hollow quill surrounding each shaft, two axially spaced bearings mounted on each shaft and rotatably supporting the quill, an inwardly facing bevel gear on each quill, a rotatably supported bevel pinion meshing with each pair of adjacent beve1 gears, means to drive all the bevel pinions in unison, a clutch member slidably keyed to each shaft outwardly of the quill, the clutch member and the quill havinginterfittin parts, and means to slide each clutch member outwardly to disengage it from the adjacent quill.-

4. A wire take-up frame as set forth in claim 2, in which the elongated structure includes means providing a longitudinally extending trough arranged to retain a body of oil in which the lower portions of the bevel gears and of the pinion shaft gears are immersed.

5. A wire take-up frame as set forth in claim 2, in which the main shaft is located above the plane of the block shafts.

WELD MORGAN. CLARKE D. WESSON REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: v

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date a 410,314 Coffin Sept. 3, 1889 937,551 Remmen- Oct. 19, 1909 966,827 Gustave Aug. 9, 1910 1,741,056 Honig Dec. 24, 1929 2,177,373 Newton et a1. Oct. 24, 1939 2,294,653 Bruestle Sept. 1, 1942 

